


this is the only thing i've ever had any faith in

by perfectlyrose



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Developing Relationship, Episode s07e01 A Little Adventure, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Season/Series 07 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-06-27 04:17:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15677838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perfectlyrose/pseuds/perfectlyrose
Summary: Keith keeps vigil by Shiro's pod while they wait to see if the soul transfer will be successful.set during S07E01: A Little Adventure





	this is the only thing i've ever had any faith in

**Author's Note:**

> So, I binged all seven seasons of this show this weekend and I have emotions about it.

Keith keeps his hand pressed against the pod holding Shiro, willing him to open his eyes, to be okay. He needs to see the warm brown gaze he knows so well looking back at him without the purple maniacal glint he’d stared down earlier.

There is no real reason for him to stay. Allura is monitoring Shiro’s medical information, is on standby in case her magic can be of use again. Krolia is monitoring Keith. The weight of her hand on his shoulder is the only thing keeping him grounded during this interminable waiting game that has already stretched into an eternity.

He can feel his heartbeat reverberating through his ribcage, in the tips of his fingers pressed so hard against the glass. It synced to the readout of Shiro’s several vargas ago and he knows before Allura says a word that Shiro’s body is failing because Keith’s is as well.

“Come on, Shiro,” he whispers, not taking his eyes of Shiro’s motionless face. “You can’t give up now.”

Krolia tightens her grip on Keith’s shoulder and he does his best not to flinch. It feels like his whole body is bruised. He is almost certain he cracked at least one rib during the fight with Shiro.

Even if they were back on the Castle with all of its advanced medical tech, Keith knows he wouldn’t have let them put him in a cryopod until Shiro was out of the woods. As it was, they only have whatever supplies are stored on the lions and he doesn’t want to waste them when time will heal him eventually.

No one had asked after any injuries that weren’t immediately visible and Keith hadn’t said anything. He would keep the full extent of the battle he’d fought with Shiro a secret from the team unless he absolutely had to reveal it.

Besides, the pain keeps him level, keeps him present. Keith takes a deep breath, feels the sharp pain in his ribs, lets it radiate through him.

“You can’t give up on _me_ ,” Keith says even softer than before. “You _promised_.”

He hears Allura suck in a surprised breath but tunes her out. Keith focuses on Shiro’s face, tracing the scar across his nose with his gaze. He can still feel heat radiating from his cheek even though someone had smeared some healing goop on it earlier and knows that he will have a scar of his own now. Both of them courtesy of the Galra empire in some form, though Keith knows Shiro would blame himself for Keith’s. Shiro _will_ blame himself for Keith’s.

He needs Shiro to wake up so Keith can argue with him about who’s at fault. He needs Shiro to wake up for so many reasons.

“I’m afraid the clone body is rejecting Shiro’s consciousness,” Allura says sometime later.

Keith straightens, turning to face her. “There must be some way you can help!”

“There’s nothing I can do.”

Keith just stares at her, undone by the helplessness in her voice, by the grief there.

For a moment, he imagines a world without Shiro in it, a world in which he knew as an absolute that Shiro was gone, not just missing.

Something inside of Keith unravels at the thought.

Since the moment Shiro had bailed him out of juvie after Keith stole his car, the man had become a fixed point in Keith’s reality. He believed in Keith when no one else did. Shiro had refused to give up on him even when he had every single reason to do so.

Somewhere along the line, Keith had decided that he was never going to give up on Shiro either. Whatever bond lies between them is the only thing he believed in some days, is the only constant in his ever shifting universe.

If that tether broke, Keith thinks he might just do so as well. His whole being feels hollow and fragile at the thought.

He snaps, brings his fist down on pod, right over Shiro’s chest. “Shiro, please. Fight!”

Keith’s voice cracks on the words. Emotions he refuses to name crackle to the surface, overriding his physical pain with something infinitely more excruciating. It feels like his heart, the one that is still beating along with Shiro’s, is being carved out.

A sob claws its way out of his throat. Keith bows his head over the pod. “You can’t do this to me again.”

The words have time to hang heavy in the room before the pod beeps and the display goes green. Keith pulls back, a fluttering that he thinks might be hope stealing through his veins.

The pod slides open and a quiet coughing emerges from its inhabitant.

Keith leans over him, intently searching that familiar face for signs that he is really okay. “Shiro!”

Shiro’s eyes flutter open and his gaze locks onto Keith. Shiro’s brow furrows as he focuses on him with all the energy he has in that moment.

“Keith?” Shiro’s voice is raspy. “I was dreaming.”

Keith can’t get words out, can only stare down at at the man who is his north star and let a tremulous smile start to turn up the corners of his mouth.

“Keith, you saved me,” Shiro says, still staring up at him, seemingly unaware that anyone else is in the room.

Keith gives in to gravity and pitches forward to hug Shiro. His fingers curl into Shiro’s hair, press into his back. He revels in the soft contact with no pod in the way, with no anger in the way. This is real and Shiro is alive and in his arms.

Neither of them had given up. They made it.

“We saved each other,” Keith says.

Keith pulls back to help Shiro sit up just as the rest of the team rushes in the door.

“Shiro’s looking better! All right!” Lance calls, voicing the excitement of the whole group.

Keith addresses the other worry that had been pulling on him for the last couple of vargas as everyone gathers around Shiro’s pod. “Where were you guys? We couldn’t get ahold of you.”

Lance rattles off some explanation about a magical skunk that only halfway makes sense. Shiro sighs and then lets out a laugh. “It’s good to be back,” he says.

Keith sags as relief washes over him along with the chatter of his team. Everyone is fine. The team is whole.

He is smiling when his legs finally give out and he stumbles into Krolia.

She reacts immediately, steadying him and moving to peer at his face. “Keith? Are you alright?”

“Fine,” he says, aware that the room was now quiet as everyone looked over at him.

“Did you get medical attention while I was under?” Shiro asks, concern etched on his face. His eyes are haunted and Keith knows he’s inventorying every hit he dealt out in their fight.

“We treated his face,” Allura offers. “He did not indicate he was injured in any other manner.”

Shiro pales and Keith knows the jig is up. He sighs. “Lots of bruises, at least one cracked rib, and I popped my shoulder back into place myself.”

Everyone stares at him, horrified. He can’t meet Shiro’s eyes.

“I’ve had worse?” he offers. He tries to stand on his own again but stumbles back against Krolia. “I just need some sleep. And some painkillers.”

Allura looks close to tears but she still pins him with a hard stare. “You need actual medical attention. This pod can’t heal you completely like the cryopod but it can help.”

“It would use more power and we can’t waste power,” Keith argues.

“Keith, quit arguing and get in the pod,” Shiro says. He swings his legs over the side and stands with the help of Allura. “Making sure you’re okay is not a waste of power.”

“Agreed,” Allura adds.

Keith has never been good at knowing when to back down from a fight but this time he concedes. He doesn’t have the energy to battle his entire team. He lets Krolia help him into the pod.

Shiro disengages from Allura and leans over Keith as the princess starts programming a diagnostic scan. “Let us take care of you now.” His gaze catches on Keith’s new scar before darting back up to his eyes. “I couldn’t live with myself if I was the reason you died.”

“I’m not dying. That would be giving up,” Keith says.

Shiro gives him a lopsided smile. It’s small but it’s something and Keith stares at it until the world starts to go fuzzy around him. Shiro is the only thing still clear. He reaches out and brushes Keith’s hair back from his face. “I’ll be here when you wake up,” he promises.

Keith tries to answer but the blackness swallows him first. The image of Shiro’s smile is still imprinted on the back of his eyelids as the pod snicks shut. He more than trusts that Shiro will keep his promise. Keith knows he will. Shiro always does.


End file.
